A Little Understanding Goes A Long Way...

I typically spend 30-45 minutes every afternoon reading to the little kids while Little Man does his homework/reads with us.  This is not because I am good mama, this is self preservation during the witching hour (4:00-5:00).  Today, Peanut and Sweet Pea and I were reading a book and Little Man sat near working on his word study.  I looked over at Peanut and he was picking his nose.  This is a habit that really bothers me so I told him to go wash his hands and face and then noticed that there was snot smeared on his face.  I told him to go quickly and pushed him in the direction of the bathroom.  Then I hear Little Man quietly ask, "Mama, did you throw up a little bit in your mouth?"  I replied, "I did."  He says, "I understand."

Sometimes a little understanding goes a long way to make you feel better.

Little Man's Basketball Team - The Little Golden Waves

It is no secret that basketball is my sport.  I love playing it, watching it, teaching it and now watching my 6 year old work the court.  He scored 4 points in his very first game and has come so so close to scoring in every other game.  He loves playing, dribbling, shooting and is working hard on rebounding too.  This is his first of what I hope is many more seasons!

The Case of the Mistaken Finger

It is fairly rare that we eat out as a family, mostly because it isn't all that relaxing with a 3 year old, 4 year old and 6 year old but for the most part we are turning the corner on that.  Everyone can sit still (for the most part), use inside voices (for the most part) and use good manners (for the most part).

Friday night we took everyone out to eat after Little Man's basketball game. All was going well even if we were smooched into a booth more appropriate for a family of 4 than a family of 5, that is until Peanut started crying uncontrollably.  It came on as sudden as if he had been stung by a bee.  Papa Bear immediatly asked him if he had bitten his tongue and he yells "No!  My finger!  I bit my finger!"  I was sitting next to him so I had my arms around him, comforting him and soothing him.  Then he confesses quietly to me.  "I bit mine finger because I thought it was a french fry."  I couldn't help it.  I laughed and laughed and laughed and eventually he joined in, calmed down and started eating again.  It is just so much fun to be his mama.  He is always saying something surprising or doing something that completely catches me off guard and cracks me up.

At the same dinner, Little Man called me out regarding my use of sarcasm.  I was squished between Peanut and Sweet Pea, not really all that comfortable and Papa Bear was sitting next to Little Man who was quietly working through a word puzzle.  Papa Bear and I realized that we had unevenly distributed the trouble in the booth.  Papa Bear asked me if I wanted to switch up one of my more boisterous seat mates for Little Man and I said "Noooo!"  Little Man looked up and said, "Did you mean that?" I laughed and told him that I was being sarcastic and he said "You told me I am not supposed to be sarcastic.  Did you mean that?"  I only have myself to blame. 

Buckets Of Snow

Today the sky dumped over 14 inches of snow on us very quickly.  We woke up in the morning and could barely find Papa Bear's car.  It was a snow storm of firsts for us all.  Little Man was allowed to go up to the sledding hill by himself this year.  He loved having the independence and I loved not having to drag the little ones up there if they didn't want to go.  Sweet Pea was not thrilled with the snow because she kept "sinking" and so she stuck to the shoveled paths as much as possible.  Peanut wanted to crawl through and bury himself in the snow and then would get mad that he was cold.  The last time we had a snow storm like this, Little Man was not quite 3 and Peanut was 11 months old (and Sweet Pea was born 9 months later) so it was a lot more fun this year for the kids and a lot easier on me.  Other snow day fun included hot chocolate, crafts and movie time!

Playing in the drifts

Peanut hit this ramp, caught at least 3 feet of air and landed hard hurting his back.  He was then tended to by 3 6th graders who made such a big deal out of him that he let them hold his hands and walk him home.

Traversing the lawn became more fun and treacherous

She was a great little helper since she didn't want to sink.

Taking Turns

Recently I was speaking with Peanut's preschool teacher and she mentioned that he has a difficult time waiting his turn in circle to share with the rest of the class.  At first I chalked this up to any 4 year old in a class of 16 kids having a tough time when they have something to say.  Raising our hands is a learned skill.  Interrupting and speaking out of turn, that seems to just come naturally for us all.  But then I realized that in part Peanut might be having a hard time with this because we don't usually enforce him having to wait his turn.  When he has something to say, I stop what I am doing to hear him.  When we are talking around the table he usually gets top billing if he has something to say.  Sometimes it may take him 15 minutes to get a thought completely out.  Sometimes it still takes us 10 minute to decipher his sentence.  For example, just this morning all 3 kids were piled on top of me and were all trying to outdo one another by giving me kisses.  (I know, tough world I live in)  Peanut was kissing me over and over which is not very typical for him so I was telling him how much I love every one of his many many kisses.  He stopped and took my face in his pudgy giant hands and said "Now you are a witch!"  I laughed and said that I wasn't a witch and he said "Yes, you are I am turning you into a witch with all of my kisses!"  I repeated what he said to me and he shook his head obviously getting frustrated with me.  "Witch?" "Witch!!" "Witch?" "Witch!!" "Witch?" "Witch!!" This went on for a while and then he stopped and said "You know, what you are when you have lots and lots of things.  "OH RICH!"  "Yes, I am making you rich (still sounding like witch) with all of my kisses."  He was so thrilled with me for figuring out what he was trying to say he gave me a huge hug and more kisses.  During this time, Little Man and Sweet Pea were still kissing me and trying to get my attention but I didn't take my eyes off of Peanut until we figured it out.  He needs to be heard and we still have some hurdles to jump.  So forgive me teachers of his future, but I don't make him wait his turn and saying "Be quiet or stop talking" still feels impossible to say to him regardless of how well he is doing.  The older he gets, the more out of context and complex his thoughts are getting and I will always take the time to decipher his words and let him talk until my head is pounding.  Peanut words are still priceless and I am kind of ok with him wanting to talk at school even if he forgets to raise his hand.

Christmas Eve Eve Eve and Eve Eve and Eve

We have been packing in the fun while Papa Bear has off of work and it has been perfectly wonderfully busy and chaotic and fun.  Chaos can be good when I am not alone to handle it and we have certainly embraced it this year as a team. 

Sunday we went to our third annual Christmas meal with our very close friends.  These are the types of friends that I know we will have forever.  I can already picture Little Man and his best bud Seb double dating for prom in 10 years and Sweet Pea having a crush on Seb or trying to date Cillian.  We went over about 4 in the afternoon and ate and ate and ate and ate.  The kids exchanged gifts and Peanut got a book about Volcanoes, Sweet Pea got a sticker books that we have worked on for two days and Little Man got a lego set.  The company was perfect, the fun and drinks were flowing and the kids wore themselves out.  It is one of my most anticipated events of the season because I just love watching our families mesh and really enjoy one another.

Monday we shipped Little Man off for a playdate with a friend from school. This allowed Papa Bear and I to have a man to man defense on the littles.  It was perfect.  We went out for lunch, went to the grocery store to pick up Christmas Eve dinner, unloaded groceries and generally just had a morning of less chaos.  Then we picked Little Man up and all went to the neighborhood Christmas caroling event.  This is the first year that we have all gone.  The kids ate Christmas treats, sang and walked the neighborhood spreading Christmas cheer for the better part of two hours and then ate pizza with about 30 other kids and their parents.  Like I said, chaos, but it was controlled chaos and Papa Bear and I were a team.

Today we all just relaxed, ate cookies, made reindeer food, watched Christmas movies, tracked Santa on NORAD.  The best part was the Christmas Eve dinner that I prepared for myself and Papa Bear.  The kids ate spinach lasagna (their favorite meal) while Papa Bear and I ate the standing rib roast, asparagus and mashed potatoes that I made. We will have left overs for tomorrow! 

We hope to keep Christmas easy, no cooking, just fun and presents.  Papa Bear prepped the quiches for the morning, we are thawing our last Mommom brisket for lunch to share with Uncle Mark and Meemom and then leftovers for dinner.  Santa is coming to town!

Merry Christmas!